Platform-gear for wagons



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. J. H. BAKER. PLATFORM GEAR FOR WAGONS.

No. 495,468. Patented Apr. 18, 1893.

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2 Sheets-Sheet 2. J. H. BAKER. PLATFORM GEAR FOB. WAGONS.

Patented Apr. 18, 1893.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES H. BAKER, OF ALLEGHENY, PENNSYLVANIA.

PLATFORM-G EAR FOR WAGONS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 495,468, dated April18, 1893.

Application filed November 4, 1392. Serial No. 450,976. (No model.)

bearing and springs broken ofi of a three spring gear. Figs. 1 and 1 aresections on various lines of Fig.1; Fig. 1, an end view of arm withrivet by which arm is attached to spring. Fig. 1 is an end view of theswivel bearing. Fig. 2, is a plan of blank from which I make theplatform showing in dotted lines the center and the lines on which Iroll out the arms. Fig. 3, is a View of same after the arms have beenrolled out. Fig. 4, is a section on line aco3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 5, is aside elevation of Fig. 1. Fig. 6, is a side elevation of the swivelbearing. Fig. 7, is a section on line n, n, of Fig. 6. Fig. 8, is a partelevation and part section showing attachment of spring to arm. Fig. 9,is a side eleva-' tion of platform truss. Fig. 10, is a plan of upperplatform circle and two trusses. Fig. 10, Fig. 10 and Fig. 10 aresections at various points on Fig.10. Fig. 11, is a front elevation ofFig. 10 and Fig. 12, a perspective of a modified form of upper platform.

My invention relates to improvements in platform wagons, andparticularly to that part, which is used to support the front part ofthe body on the axle, or on the springs fastened to the axle. This partis usually called a gear. These gears are in two parts; the lower partrising to the circle irons and center coupling, and the upper partextending from that point to the body. I take for illustration, thegears where springs aroused, in the form of half of an ellipticalspring. It is customary to set one each of these half springs centerdownward on the axle, next to the shoulders, and to hang another halfsprings center upward across from point to point of the rear ends of theaxle springs. Then pieces of wood strapped with iron are run from theforward points of the axle springs, inwardly and backward to near thecenter of the tops of the cross spring. On these pieces are placed crosspieces of wood to support the circle irons and also a cross piece ofwood to fasten the center coupling attachment. This form has to bebraced and 1roned to give it the requisite strength and necessitates theuse of a large number of pieces, bolts, and rivets. Being rigidlyfastened to these points, any inequality in loading or in the road bedwhich causes one of the axle springs to give down more than the other,causes a twist to occur in the platform which is destructive to itslife. In pleasure carriages having two elliptical springs only, in thefront gear, the fifth wheel is often supported by a wrought metal frame.But since this form of platform gear is comparatively simple,except forornamental designs, myinvention relates more especially to wagons havingthree or more springs in the front gear, and to wagons having nosprings, which therefore require a large amount of building up at thatpoint, although it may be used with the two spring construction. Someefiort has been made to have metal platform gears used on the threespring gears, but they are too complex and expensive.

The object of my invention is to dispense with a large number of thepieces, and to change the formof construction, so as to make it betterand cheaper, and to relieve the structure from torsional strain byplacing a swivel in the cross spring connection.

I will now describe how to apply my invention to a front gear of a wagonhaving three springs placed in such a position as to have three pointsof bearing to transmit the load to the springs asshown in Fig. 1.

The blank may be cut from plate metal, but to avoid waste I take a piececonsiderably thicker than the blank is to be shaped, and in eccentricrolls I roll it toward the points aa from the circle I) in Fig. 2. Asthe rolling forces the metal nearly all in one direction the piece takesthe shape of Fig. 3 having a thick center. This thick part I form upinto a center bearing connection 2 in Fig. 1. This bearing center isvery important in forming a substantial king bolt coupling, though thiscenter bearing may be a separate piece. Then cutting the blank tocorrect shape I press it into the spider shape of Fig.

1, having the sections seen at Figs. 10, 10, and give the center anyelevation desired. The arms should decrease in size toward their ends,but if they make any bend for attaching to the spring they should bemade heavier at that bend to resist torsional strain as seen at 0c00 inFig. 1. I prefer to separate the arms as at 3-3, Fig. 1, so that thecircle iron may have more bearing points. When the platform is for heavywork, I next press the lower edge of the flange at about right angles. Inow press the rear arm channel section into a hollow round section, asseen at 14. I now press up a hollow spring block 4, of plate metal, torest upon the center of the rear or cross spring and put grooves acrossits top as seen in Fig. 6, to receive the spring clip bolts, and a largehole 5 in the center to receive the arm. Into this hole I insert a pieceof tubing not shown, and rivet it at each end for a bearing around theend of the arm. This gives the perfect three point bearing. Anotheradvantage of this connection is that the spring block 4 can be allowedto slide endwise on the rear arm, and thus equalize the difference inlength made by the depression of the side springs.

For most work it is better to place a memher 6 in the form of a truss,seen in Fig. 9, in detail, across the front uniting the two points, orends of the arms of the platform. The shaft connecting irons may beattached to this, or directly to the ends of the arms. When a tongue iswanted, I place the supports for it at 13 in this truss and under thecircle iron at the front edge of the center plate as at 13 in Fig. 5.The circle iron I rivet to the arms equidistant from the center. Whereextra elasticity is needed, stub leaf springs can be secured to the armsjust outside of the circle iron, and attached to the ends of the springsproper by suitable fastenings. The main thing is to have a substantialcentral piece or central connection to carry the projecting arms, and toconnect to the upper platform and to so proportion the whole that thebending moment will not localize at one point. Plain channel sectionscrossing each other in the center would do if the flanges of one channelwere kept continuous. But the arms in this case also would have to betapered at the ends or the structure would bend short at the point ofgreatest load. For this reason rolled sections are obj ectionable thoughthey might be made to answer better by trimming and so adapted to besubstituted for my spider. But they could only be partially tapered inthe flanges and not in the width of the channels. There is bound to besome give in the structure, and if this is not distributed, the platformwould be too heavy in proportion to its strength. Or again, the outeredge of the center plate could be made to form the circle iron, or thiscenter plate can be made smaller in proportion than shown.

A platform gear having four arms can be made on the same plan and othervariations without departing from my invention. But no weak lines mustbe allowed across the direction in which the strains of the load hearingpoints are carried toward the center or toward each other. The armshould be strongest just under the circle iron; hence I make deepflanges at this point, as seen at Fig. 1. For a platform gear having nosprings, two of the arms will extend downward, and rest on the axle,andone arm in the rear be secured to a brace going to the axle. The otherarm may be united to the tongue. But in this case the two arms extendingto the axleshould be much the stronger.

The four arm platform shown in Figs. 10 and 11 for the top, can beadapted for a lower one, and a three arm platform shown in Fig. 1, canbe used for the upperone if desired.

The four arm platform 10, shown in Fig. 10, is made in the same way asthelower one, except that Iturn the ends outwardly at 77, so as toreceive the cross-bars 8-, 8, under the body. When the body is ofsuitable construction the arms may support it by simply changing theupper surface near the ends. The coupling connection 9, in the center ofthe upper platform, is the complement of the lower center piece. Thebody cross-bars are seen at 8, 8. But for the upper platform I prefer touse three pieces 11, 11, of plate metal, cut into suchformand pressedup, as will form a channel in section,with thewidth of the channeldecreasing from the circle iron toward the ends; these pieces I rivet tothe circle iron. This construction is shown in Fig. 12. The center piecewill contain the king bolt or center pin attachment. The form of thesechannel pieces may assume a round cornered inverted V section toward theends. The ends of these pieces can receive the body cross-bars. Wherethe elevation of the ends is great, I tie them together by a bolt or bar12, thus forming a truss and allowing them to be lighter in the centerthan if, not so tied. The advantage of this tie rod is such that even aflanged arm without taper would make a fair construction. Any of thearms in the above constructions may have instead of the channel section,a T or other section.

The advantages of myinvention area strong, light, durable and neatstructure at a reduced cost.

I claim-- 1. A blank for a metal platform gear having a thick center andthinner arms radiating from said center but integral therewith,substantially as described.

2. A metal platform gear consisting of a center, flanged arms integralwith said center, radiating therefrom, and a circle iron supportedthereon substantially as described.

3. A metal platform gear, consisting of a center, flanged arms integralwith said center radiating therefrom, and a coupling bearing in saidcenter, substantially as described.

4. A metal gear platform consisting of a center, flanged arms, integralwith said center and radiating therefrom, and a circle secured to saidplatform, substantially as described.

5. A lower metal platform gear swiveled at its connection with thecross-spring, so as to permit the platform to-turn in a vertical planeparallel with the line of the axles, substantially as described.

6. A metal platform gear consisting of a center, and flanged armsdivided where they receive the circle, substantially as described.

7. A metal platform gear consisting of a center and channel armsreinforced at their lower edges by bending inwardly radiating therefrom,substantially as described.

8. An upper metal platform gear consisting of a circle iron, channelarms attached thereto with the width of the channel tapered from thecircle outwardly, substantially as described.

9. An upper metal plat-form gear consisting of a circle iron, flangedarms attached thereto and tie rods joining the ends of said arms, sub 25 stantially as described.

10. A lower metal platform gear having a spring block arranged to slideback andforth upon the end of the rear arm of the platform,substantially as described.

11. A metal platform gear consisting of a center and channel armstapering in horizontal section outwardly radiating therefrom,substantially as described.

12. A lower metal platform gear with flanged arms tapering in horizontalsection outwardly radiating therefrom, substantially as described.

13. A lower metal platform gear consisting of channels united to eachother and tapering in horizontal section outwardly, substantially asdescribed.

Intestimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 14th day ofOctober,'A. D. 1892.

JAMES H. BAKER.

Witnesses: A

WILLIAM BEAL, WM. L. PIERCE.

